Thank you, Tom, for turning our thoughts to Ed Dorn in this lovely poem. I never met him, but I enjoyed hearing you speak of your travels across the West with him: the rumbling train cars, carrying coal at night; the grasses of the high plains, undulating in the wind. Yes, it's time to read some Dorn again.

Thanks so much everybody, I hope those not yet acquainted with the writings of Edward Dorn will be inspired to look into them. Ed was a great lyricist and chronicler of the American West in particular, its landforms and its peoples.

Aditya, I've always been a small time traveler myself, which is why it always felt like such a privilege to ride the West with Ed. Thinking to maybe bring him alive in his traveling mode a bit more fully for you, I've just now put up the post above.

...It all ends in not being differentthan the shalestone or hunkof limebreaking into daylightlet us not mention ford carsa measurement of distance isprobably not valuable.Breaking into the shale stoneor hunk of limestone we all viewthe crescent moons of shells.Then the black outline of foliagea finger's spread high,

there, moons

and leaves, we are all goingto be thereit is the backyardof our eternity....Ed Dorn, exerpt from The Land Below

thanks much for that small surge of a poem. I'm a poet & live near the desert in No. New Mexico- have read & loved the incredible Ed for years. One of my 1st public readings was with Ed & Linda Hogan in Denver, 1983, Slightly Off Center Theatre. Very much loved your bio on Ed as well. Gunslinger is a major source in my life.